Josh Mandel on Free Trade

FactCheck: Brown voted against China trade & moving jobs

Sherrod Brown has voted against trade deals--with South Korea, Central America, Mexico and Canada and, most importantly here, China. But Josh Mandel said in a news release, "Make no mistake--Sherrod Brown is one of the main DC politicians responsible for
Ohio jobs moving to China."

Can Mandel back up his claim? A campaign spokesman sent several points:

The federal stimulus bill in 2009 led to taxpayer money being spent on wind turbine parts made in China. "The purpose of the bill was to provide
jobs in the US, not China."

Criticizes opponent for helping move jobs to China

Mandel said in a news release on March 1, "Make no mistake--Sherrod Brown is one of the main D.C. politicians responsible for Ohio jobs moving to China."

Can Mandel back up his claim?
A Mandel campaign spokesman said in an email, "The federal stimulus bill in 2009, on which Brown voted yes, led to tens of millions in taxpayer money being spent on wind turbine parts made in China."

But the wind project with the
Chinese connection never got completed. Since companies could only collect money after completion and the program expired last year, it is safe to say that the amount that went to China was "zero."

We find Mandel's claim was overly broad; dead wrong in the case of his most concrete backup examples and, overall, just not accurate.